Application Integration the Other Way Around

Complex interfaces for communication and accessing online process data are two typical plagues when integrating advanced applications into process industry plants. Examples of such advanced applications are process validation, online optimisation, advanced controllers, et cetera. Today´s typical procedure is to either integrate the additional functionality directly into the particular automation system or to add it as an additional external system above the automation system level. The first procedure is often not feasible due to limited resources and restricted integration capabilitites of industrial automation systems. On the other hand, external solutions impose additional communication load and error proneness on automation systems. Also, the integration effort required increases: communication failures, such as missing setpoints, need to be handled properly within the automation system in order to avoid loosing closed loop control and to fall back to automation system-internal strategies. These barriers hinder widespread usage of advanced applications. Thus, a different integration approach provides additional application functionality and data access directly on the field level. Fieldbus technology is an established technology providing standardised data access. In this paper, we present a flexible solution for easily realising virtual field devices hosting diverse applications (for instance, using common PC hardware).